David Churbuck’s Reel-Time FLog

Drifting Memories: Book Chronicles Beach Camp History - Feb. 17, 2005 History of Nauset Beach Camps published

Challenges, Opportunities In Muddy Creek - Feb. 24, 2005 The enemy for most estuaries is nitrogen.

Reel-Time Forums - View Single Post - Mass. DMF to propose ban on sale of river herring This is on the conservation forum at R-T.

Growing pains: Oyster company, abutters shaking out issues - Cotuit - The Barnstable Patriot - Cape Cod & Islands

Old story, don’t know the date.

WIND FARM: Animal experts want more data - News - The Barnstable Patriot - Cape Cod & Islands Barnstable Patriot

Hardy anglers hooked on ice fishing (February 27, 2005) From the Sunday Cape Cod Times. Guess the Cape still has safe ice (as of 2/27). Anybody know where to get shiners on a Sunday?

EPA: Wind farm needs new study (February 26, 2005)

This is a very good idea. Putting the Army Corps in front of the environmental impact review was never a good idea. I’m all for a two-year delay to get the environmental impact nailed down tight.

Nantucket opens pond too early, to save some summer homes. What’s a couple hundred dead fish compared to some summer guy’s cottage? This one ticks me off. First some poor guy gets arrested a few years ago for daring to open a stagnant pond, restoring it to life. Then the town caves in to some Goldman Sachs master-of-the-universe and rips open a pond to drain the water from flooding his cottage and Polpis Road?

Whoa, talk about Shark Week — based on the true story of a couple who were left behind in the open ocean off of Australia while on a scuba trip — this flick is a real shark fest. Open Water


No giveaways, but if this flick doesn’t convince you not to go swimming, only Jaws will.

Wysiwig posting is back.
Image upload test

Hmm. No WYSIWIG Plug in enabled. That means img is gonna look for an uploaded pic.

Time to fire up the FTP client and dig around my site for a sample.

Chatham unveils revised Stage Harbor plan (February 23, 2005) Again from the Cape Cod Times — a piece on a new management plan for the Stage Harbor area what has some implications for Cape Cod rec fishermen.

Barge law up for a review (February 23, 2005)

Okay, double-hull the damned barges and don’t let them into Massachusetts waters without a tug escort. Another reason we need wind power. How quickly we forget that the clueless oil shippers have trashed the shores of Buzzard’s Bay.

Fishing with Dan 6.21.02 010
Originally uploaded by dchurbuck.

Flickr test. Does it work?

Here is an image stored over at Flickr

Wind farm foes cite oil-spill risks (February 22, 2005)

Okay, my mind is now made up. I’ve kept my opinions to myself on the Reel-Time forums, but here, in my own space, let me come out in favor of the Wind Farm.

Why?

1. Oil and coal-fired electricity generation is not a sustainable solution to this country’s energy needs.
2. While nuclear is a better, and expeditious solution, there is no way the issues of nuclear waste disposal and the perception that nuclear energy is dangerous are going to go away in time.
3. The U.S. needs to set an example to developing economies that oil dependency is not the way to go. The pollution prospects for Asia and China are horrible and the U.S. will have no leverage or credibility in seeking alternative energy development in emerging markets if it doesn’t do so at home.
4. Wind generation technology has advanced sufficiently to the point of viability.

I support the wind farm if ….

1. If Cape Wind is willing to post a bond sufficient to ensure the removal of the turbines should it go bankrupt and fail, then I am in favor of their proposal.
2. If land-based alternatives (the legendary Route 6 median strip solution) are explored and found to be credibly lacking as a solution.
3. The Farm leads to the closure of the Canal generation plant which is a blight on the environment and requires the constant delivery of fuel oil over sensitive marine habitat.

Under those conditions I am willing to put up with the spectre of a couple hundred windmills on the horizon. I reject, categorically, the aesthetic arguments put forward by Save Our Sound, and this piece of specious bullshit put out yesterday — that the turbines represent a danger to oil tankers — is further proof of the weakness of their arguments.

Sorry people, the name of the game is energy and I for one would be proud to support the first viable move to reduce this country’s addiction to fossil fuels, even at the loss of a scenic view.

Unlike 99 percent of those opposed, I have sailed and fished the affected waters. They are a virtual navigational wasteland. Fishing opportunities are likely to increase, not decrease, due to the introduction of true fish holding structure. Horseshoe Shoal is not a national park, it is not a beautiful sailing ground, it is a shallow, choppy section of Nantucket Sound which is generally avoided by pleasure and commercial craft alike. It’s proximity to land makes it perfectly viable as the site for the nation’s first water-based wind farm.

I say go for it.

State jurisdiction in Sound expands (February 16, 2005)

Bishop and Clerks have been placed under State territorial waters. This ruling eats into Cape Wind’s proposed windmill farm and will probably shake up the permitting/review process.

Nod to Bob Parsons for catching this one.

We’re looking for people to test our new features. If you want to start your own fishing log, drop me an email at david.churbuck at gmail dot com and we’ll get you set up.

NCMC Conservation News - Notes from Underwater Support these guys. They’re the organization taking on Omega Protein.

Menhaden News This one is so funny it hurts. Check out this press release at www.mehaden.org (thanks to Bill Downing for the pointer.

“SCIENTIFIC WORKSHOP INDICATES MASSIVE CHESAPEAKE BAY STRIPED BASS POPULATIONS MAY BE HARMING ATLANTIC MENHADEN AND FISHERY ECOSYSTEM”